MoC Forthcoming, Wishlist, and Random Speculation

[yoloswegmaster]

Titles for tomorrow's announcements have been leaked on Amazon:

Spoiler

Time and Tide
The Spy Who Came In From the Cold
One Armed Boxer

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

Glad to know more Tsui is on the way. This one has been a gap in my Tsui viewings, so I’ll pick it up.

[beamish14]

Glad to know more Tsui is on the way. This one has been a gap in my Tsui viewings, so I’ll pick it up.

It's very odd and fragmented, particularly during its first hour (which feels a lot like a Wong Kar-Wai film, to be honest), and there are some dicey gender dynamics issues, but it is a lot of fun, and has a very long sequence set in a public housing building that is amazingly entertaining. It's interesting, having come off of 2 films starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, that the finale is actually similar to the ending of another Van Damme film from the 90's that an American director with a very distinct visual style made...

[Orlac]

ONE ARMED BOXER is a real fave of mine - completely bonkers!

[rapta]

Next up in June are Robert Wiene's The Hands of Orlac (MoC), Johnnie To's PTU (MoC) and Sammo Hung's Encounters of a Spooky Kind (Eureka Classics).

In unexpected but positive news, apparently first pressing of The Lucky Star 3-Film Collection has already gone OOP, and the initial Limited Edition of Viy is about to go OOP too (the standard reissue will lose the second disc and slipcover).

Also, as has been the fashion of UK boutiques recently, the third volume of Buster Keaton triple-bills is back in stock very briefly. Apparently 50 copies were found in a warehouse and put back on sale this morning, and they're already down to 25 so it seems to be flying out of the door!

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

Was really annoyed at how quick the Lucky Stars collection sold out. I literally tried ordering it this morning and scalpers on eBay are already selling it at double the value. I just want to see Sammo Hung punch a man in drag in the dick!

[Finch]

And the wait for Johnnie To's The Mission continues... Maybe one day!

[Maltic]

Spooky Encounters is a major Sammo off the list (remaining are The Prodigal Son, Pedicab Driver, Warriors Two, The Victim, Knockabout...)

Any word about extras?

[tenia]

Was really annoyed at how quick the Lucky Stars collection sold out. I literally tried ordering it this morning and scalpers on eBay are already selling it at double the value. I just want to see Sammo Hung punch a man in drag in the dick!

The standard release can be ordered at Eureka's webstore for £27.99.

[midnitedave]

Spooky Encounters is a major Sammo off the list (remaining are The Prodigal Son, Pedicab Driver, Warriors Two, The Victim, Knockabout...)

Any word about extras?

Agreed! I own the HK Blu of Spooky Encounters and the restoration looks amazing but, unfortunately, no extras. Excited to find out more tomorrow.

[Maltic]

The Kam & Ronson BD? I was expecting a new rm/transfer for Eureka, actually.

I'm guessing there will at least be a commentary, with either Mike Leeder (not my cup of tea) or Frank Djeng (hit and miss for me, good on Throw Down and Iron-Fisted Monk, less good on Eastern Condors and The Bride With White Hair).

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

The Kam & Ronson BD? I was expecting a new rm/transfer for Eureka, actually.

I'm guessing there will at least be a commentary, with either Mike Leeder (not my cup of tea) or Frank Djeng (hit and miss for me, good on Throw Down and Iron-Fisted Monk, less good on Eastern Condors and The Bride With White Hair).

Mike Leeder hasn't been on a MoC release for a while. I don't know why, but I sometimes get the feeling it has to do with Eureka allowing pro-Hong Kong democracy comments on a few of their previous releases while Leeder has been openly vocal against the movement and in support of the mainland Chinese government. But don't quote me, it's just a theory.

[Maltic]

I guess that would rule out any Jackie commentaries on future releases as well.

[Orlac]

Mike Leeder is pretty poor on the facts at times.

[What A Disgrace]

Eureka! is getting dangerously close to the point where they'll have to release German silent classics that I haven't actually seen before.

I'm not complaining, mind you, I've been wanting to re-watch Orlac for years, and every step closer to putting out Chronicle of the Gray House or Sylvester is a step worth taking.

[Tommaso]

Before it comes to these, they will probably first have to release "Jeanne Ney" or "Der Geiger von Florenz" (both of which, like "Orlac", have been out on blu in Germany for quite some time).

However, for those who could wait because they've already seen these films thanks to TV transmissions or elsewhere, the MoC releases are definitely the ones to go for, simply because of the many new extras and the booklet essays. The German releases - quite apart from the lack of subtitles in most cases - are more or less barebones apart from occasionally offering some alternative international release versions, which are almost always only of historical interest.

I actually also wonder why there isn't an MoC "Grieshuus" yet. Perhaps the director is too unknown? Even in Germany the new resto was only released on dvd by Murnau-Stiftung, not on blu, and it's already out of print, so probably it wasn't exactly a big seller... As to "Sylvester", I heard rumours about some restoration going on right now, but I forgot whether it was Murnau Stiftung or Filmmuseum München doing the job.

[denti alligator]

Oh, Sylvester! [drool]

[brundlefly]

Next up in June are Robert Wiene's The Hands of Orlac (MoC), Johnnie To's PTU (MoC) and Sammo Hung's Encounters of a Spooky Kind (Eureka Classics).

In unexpected but positive news, apparently first pressing of The Lucky Star 3-Film Collection has already gone OOP, and the initial Limited Edition of Viy is about to go OOP too (the standard reissue will lose the second disc and slipcover).

Also, as has been the fashion of UK boutiques recently, the third volume of Buster Keaton triple-bills is back in stock very briefly. Apparently 50 copies were found in a warehouse and put back on sale this morning, and they're already down to 25 so it seems to be flying out of the door!

Thanks for mentioning this. Had been sleeping on MoC releases lately and did not know their limited editions have been selling out so quickly. Viy was unavailable yesterday and had been snapped up at all vendors, but Eureka received a "limited amount of stock" back in today.

[Finch]

They really need to follow Indicator's example of regular low stock updates.

[therewillbeblus]

Dammit, just seeing this and Viy's LE is back to "out of stock"

[Finch]

From the reviews I read of the bonus film, it seems at best like a curiosity and not something I'd watch again, unlike Viy, so I can wait for the standard edition unless the Synapse disc happens to be on sale before then.

[therewillbeblus]

Cool, yeah I'm glad at least the shorts are on the first disc

[What A Disgrace]

July releases leaked by Amazon.

Spoiler

Standard edition Keaton volume 3 (only Masters of Cinema title so far)
The Millionaires' Express (two disc limited edition)
Wild Search

[yoloswegmaster]

Holy shit, Eureka continues to kill it with the HK releases. With the release of 'Wild Search', does this mean that the rest of the Golden Princess titles are now able to be licensed?

[rapta]

In for Wild Search, great they're starting to finally do some Ringo Lam and Chow Yun-fat and also surprised they got Golden Princess stuff! Wonder if they can do any more Lam, like the '...on Fire' films for example, since they're apparently having trouble getting any of the well-known John Woo titles (I asked them once and they said they were in 'licensing limbo'). I also wonder if they can get Full Contact eventually as it seems to be with Sony according to Park Circus, so wouldn't be impossible.

PS: Other Golden Princess titles I could see them doing...Peking Opera Blues, The Swordsman.